Pervaiz Ashraf's arrest warrant issued again

RAWALPINDI - A local court Saturday, once again, issued non-bailable arrest warrants of Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf and others for not appearing in the court despite repeated summons. Magistrate Rai Afzal Kharral issued the non-bailable arrest warrants of Federal Minister Raja Pervaiz, and Shahzada Kosar Gillani and Muhammad Sabir, workers of Pakistan People Party (PPP), directing Airport Police to arrest and produce them before the court on November 21 for continuous absence from the proceedings. The court has been conducting the trial of the accused after Airport Police booked them on December 23, 1998 on the request of the Deputy Registrar of the LHCs Rawalpindi bench. The case was registered on charges of rioting, defamation, criminal intimidation, encountering and obstructing public servants. This was after the accused misbehaved with the staff of the court that stopped them from blackening the face of a government servant for recording his statement as witness against Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari who had moved the LHC against corruption proceedings against them by the then government. Earlier in the same case, Naheed Khan, close aide of Benazir Bhutto, had moved an application under section 249-A of CrPC seeking acquittal in the case saying she was dejectedly related with the case and there was nothing incriminating against her in the case.